Al Amin :
Over 59 per cent TIN holders failed to submit their individual income tax return, which is totally unsatisfactory for the government, thanks to an absence of taxable income and a bad economic condition of the country is passing through.
The extended deadline for the individual income tax return submission has ended on January 31.
But, only 35,40,406 tax identification number (TIN) holders have able to file their returns for the tax year 2022-23 within the stipulated time, according to sources of the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
There were over 84 lakh TIN holders across the country till the tax year, although the number has increased to nearly 1 crore till on Thursday, the sources added.
The data also showed that the government agency earned worth around Tk 5,800 crore from the return submissions, which was Tk 4,900 crore in the last fiscal year.
Due to the low turnover of the return submission and political unrest ahead of national polls, the NBR had extended the deadline for two months (from November 30 to January 31).
Along with the step, the NBR had taken various initiatives including expansion of area of return submission mandatory to get government services and formulation of new tax law to increase return filing.
But, the measures have apparently failed to attract the TIN holders to file their returns within the stipulated time.
NBR officials blamed unawareness among the TIN holders, lack of enforcement capacity and logistic support and faulty survey of economic-base for the low turnover.
They, however, expected the return submission would stand at around 45 lakh at the end of June as many government officials and new TIN holders will file their return during this time.
In the 2021-22 fiscal year, around Tk 49,000 crore was collected from income taxes. This means that there has been a jump of about Tk 9,000 crore year-on-year, or 18.37 per cent.
This count is for all tax returns submitted and tax revenue collected as of January 31. Taxpayers can still submit returns subject to some conditions, including penalties.
Several other issues, including whether it is a person’s first time submitting taxes, will also be taken into consideration.
First time taxpayers can submit their statements without a penalty until June 30.
Mohammad Abdul Mazid, former chairman of the NBR, told The New Nation, “Return submission has increased slightly as the area of filling of tax return slip mandatory has expanded for last few years. But, it is yet to reach the expected level.”
“So, NBR should increase enforcement and make the data-base integrated to identify the non-submitted TIN holder,” he added.
